@eriknordman
Director, Institute of Public Utilities @ Michigan State University & Associate Professor of Agricultural, Food, & Resource Economics • Author: The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom • Fulbrighter (Kenya) • #EnergySky • Views my own
Infra requires lots of cash and long time horizons. But we're in what seems like a suboptimal equilibrium where we have rlly cool pilots with no cash run by people with shorter time horizons, and the US infra planning ecosystem (really, the lack thereof) has no incentive or mandate to scale them up.
Corporate innovation, as best as I can tell, only happens when federal policy or extreme competition forces the quick depreciation of your existing capital stock and forces you to compete on quality. Hard to engineer this.
I am slowly working on a thesis for why the US is dogshit at scaling up cleantech and, frankly, I think it's going to make nobody happy??
Meanwhile, Spain's massive investment in renewables is paying dividends now: with prices for Spanish industry and consumers low and stable compared with other European economies.
www.ft.com/content/ac77...
Someone is about to be the best BEV, EV salesman the USA has seen in a long while.
Was good to write a positive story, though there is plenty we don’t know about these guys and there are challenges ahead to make sure they remain not extinct. But here’s to positive news.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://help.ft.com/faq/gifting-and-sharing-an-article/what-is-a-gift-article/. https://www.ft.com/content/09fa5c20-2c8f-4f41-9d91-c78476eaac20 Iran hits Amazon data centres in jolt to Gulf AI drive First known military strike on a US hyperscaler rattles regional ambitions to build multibillion-dollar cloud facilities © FT montage/Reuters/AFP via Getty Images Iran hits Amazon data centres in jolt to Gulf AI drive on x (opens in a new window) Iran hits Amazon data centres in jolt to Gulf AI drive on facebook (opens in a new window) Iran hits Amazon data centres in jolt to Gulf AI drive on linkedin (opens in a new window) Share Save current progress 2% Rafe Rosner-Uddin in San Francisco, Tim Bradshaw in London and Sam Learner in New York Published5 HOURS AGO 81 Print this page The rapid expansion of American-owned data centres in the Middle East has opened up a new front for Iran’s retaliation against the US, complicating Gulf ambitions to build multibillion-dollar AI facilities in the region. Drone strikes on Amazon Web Services facilities this week in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain highlight the vulnerability of cloud facilities — prominent symbols of US tech power in the region and hard to defend against air attack. Fars News Agency, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Thursday that Iran targeted Amazon and Microsoft facilities in recent drone strikes. Experts say Amazon’s facilities were likely targeted by Iran. Microsoft said it had not experienced any outages in the region. The strikes mark what is believed to be the world’s first military attack against the US “hyper…
I double checked. This is not being reported at WaPo.
www.ft.com/content/09fa...
When the pain hits, I would love to hear from all the people who've been pushing hard to delay our energy transition.
This is not only a response to circumstances but a major bid by Qatar to pressure the USA to end hostilities ( 🎁)
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... Qatar warns war will force Gulf to stop energy exports within weeks
We are still framing dilemmas over values as technical problems.
"This all makes NIMBY opposition to data centers look like a political winner at the local level. But can it address more nebulous anxieties about a technology that is now casually compared to the industrial revolution..."
There is no end in sight for Trump's emergency orders keeping a Consumers Energy coal plant operating in west Michigan, environmental group warns.
Important news in the nuclear world. The NRC has approved construction of a new reactor in Wyoming--the first Gen IV reactor ever approved, the first commercial reactor OK'd for construction in nearly 10 years, the first approval for a non-light water reactor in 40+ years.
We are still framing dilemmas over values as technical problems.
"This all makes NIMBY opposition to data centers look like a political winner at the local level. But can it address more nebulous anxieties about a technology that is now casually compared to the industrial revolution..."
cited all over this NYT story yesterday about opposition to data centers
Thoughts & prayers to the EPA :(
When an enviro authority (eg Noaa) is weakened by a shock (eg Trump) and compliance norms in hard-to-regulate sectors (sea mining) go out of the window, expect public goods to worsen quickly as a function of mining licenses to be quick and easy to access and sell.
www.wfw.com/articles/min...
The Michigan utility wants to sell 13 aging, small hydro dams to a private equity firm for $1 each and buy back the electricity for 30 years.
Consumers says dams may be torn down if Michigan rejects hydro sale
www.mlive.com/environment/...
IPU's Grid School is a great way for early- and mid-career professionals in the electric utility sector to elevate their skills. Grid School 1: Engineering, Economics, and Modeling Fundamentals starts on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Seats are still available, register at the link below. #EnergySky 🔌💡
Really looking forward to this conference on Andor and the Politics of Star Wars at the U. of Alabama next month. Public screening of episodes, and presentations by really impressive scholars. And also me. Registration is at the link.
Thanks, @whazbun.bsky.social !
sites.ua.edu/whazbun/ando...
Catch up on our activities and upcoming programs (Grid School!) with the latest edition of the IPUpdate.
conta.cc/47iZCVF
We all have questions about these large data centers that are the "brain" of AI. I tried to answer a few of them here.
Did you know Michigan is the only state without a statewide septic code, leaving roughly 1.3M septic systems largely unregulated, potentially causing water pollution and public health risks? Learn more at a webinar this Friday hosted by @flowtc.bsky.social
flowwateradvocates.org/flow-to-host...
“In democracies, people grant legitimacy not only to those with superior knowledge but also to those whose experience mirrors their own. We listen not just vertically, to institutions, but horizontally, to one another. And we often listen better to the horizontal voice.” @jackiantonovich.bsky.social
What it is Like to Accidentally be Trapped in a Country at War
By Zack Davisson
Hey! You seen on the news of evacuation orders for Americans whose vacation was suddenly disrupted by a little war as a treat? Well, it happened to me too.
Gather round for story time! Destination, EGYPT!!!
(1)
There is no better way to insulate yourself from global oil & gas price volatility than to invest in technologies that generate useful heat & power without any oil & gas input. The Trump WH attack on renewables is a direct attack on your economic security.
My dad is a big fan of his. He's still running at 78, and even has been mistaken for Galloway at some races!
a modicum of good news
A deeply underreported story. I know so many people struggling to pay their electric bills
Welcome back, Virginia, to RGGI, the successful northeast/mid-Atlantic system to curb power plant carbon pollution and fund clean energy! midhttps://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2026/03/02/democrats-pass-bill-to-return-virginia-to-rggi-00807017
